Face Book Likes

OK, OK, OK, I'm going to RANT about Facebook now.................




.............It's Christmas.  There's been sooooo much crap on FB over the last few days about liking this and liking that.  There's adverts for this and there's adverts for that.  FB is driving me mad.  Unfortunately I'm a bit addicted to FB.  I check it on my phone, I check it on my ipad, I check it on my laptop.  I don't actually think I go more than a couple of hours without checking my 'news feed' on FB.


I think I may be a bit addicted to FB or social media or emails or whatever.


I'm not sure that I could live without the internet???  And for a ranting middle aged spinster; that's a very, very scary thing to admit.


However what is really, really, really annoying me at the moment is the number of  'pulling at the heart strings' posts that there are on FB.  We're constantly being bombarded with photos of ill kids, 90+ war veterans, puppies that have been abandoned.......................  And they all seem to have the same 'tag'...............'Lets see if we can get 1000 likes'.???


WHY???


What is it about 'FB likes' that is sooooooo important?????


..............So................. an abandoned puppy gets 1000 'likes'??  Is that going to mean it will go to a better home than it would have done had it just gone through the 'normal' rescue channel route?


............So.................... a 90+ war veteran gets thousands & thousands of likes on FB.  Is a 90+ war veteran really going to be on FB?  I would have thought it would have meant more to a  90+ war veteran if a real live person popped in for a cup of tea and a chat???


And as for all the 'ill kids' that we're constantly being asked to 'like' on FB;  Do their parents really want people that they don't know, clicking on a button and 'liking' their status????


What is the point of all this??????


I'm as guilty as the next person for posting 'totally irrelevant crap' on FB. 


BUT - I'm using FB as a diary of my life.  I couldn't care less how many likes or comments I get.  As far as I'm concerned that part of FB is irrelevant to me.


However when I was at my sisters at Christmas, my 16 year old niece wanted her mum to post a picture of the cake that she had made on her FB page.  And when I asked why she wasn't posting it on her own page she said, 'Mum's friends will appreciate it more and I'll get more likes'.  To me that is very, very sad.


I've obviously got a lot more to learn about way FB works???


There again I'm old enough not to care?!


I post what I want.  I do what I want.  I LOVE FB but I use it how I want. xxx

Christmas with the family

Firstly, before I start ranting, I LOVE Christmas with my family.  I LOVE my family.  I LOVE the fact that as a 'ranting middle aged spinster', my family always welcome me into their home at Christmas.


I am very, very, lucky to have sisters (& their partners) & nephews & nieces that accept me as the 'ranting middle aged spinster' that I am.


So many people seem to fall out with their families for ridiculous reasons, for petty squabbles, for drunken comments, for no reason at all??!! 


My family is fabulous.  Our family has always stuck together.  And they don't even watch EastEnders.  We're family.  Lol lol lol.  They think I'm a bit mad and eccentric.  I'm not!  I just don't live my life the way they do.


I have two sisters and they've always been closer to each other than I have to them.  BUT there again, before I start ranting..................  I also know that if I ever needed them............... they would be there for me (as I would be for them).  We're family and we will stick together.  I trust them with my life.  And I also love my nephews & niece more than words can say.


So now can I start ranting?................................


........................Christmas with the family???................................................


I'm all for sitting down and having Christmas Dinner together, it's lovely, I like a family meal and it was lovely that all of the family wanted to be there...................... but as for every meal???...................... I just don't understand why my teenager nephews & niece want to spend the whole time with their mummy & daddy & an aging ranting old spinster???  It's all a bit alien to me??? 


I've got quite a few friends who have teenage kids who I hardly ever see and the teenage kids are either off out with their mates or doing whatever teenage kids do in their bedrooms.  My sisters kids do not spend time in their bedrooms (apart to sleep).  And they don't seem to have any mates?? (Apart from my 19 yr old nephew - he seems to have a pretty 'normal' teenage life.)  They never go out while I'm there, and I'm pretty sure that their 'aging ranting middle aged spinster auntie' can't be that exciting??? BUT they just seem to want to spend all their time with their mummy & daddy?? 


They're 20, 19 & 16 years old.  Is this normal???  Or am I just being totally cynical???  They're all adults.  Why do they not want to go off into the 'big bad world' and do stuff themselves???


'Christmas with the family'.................................. my sister informed me that she's going to book a 'family' holiday in July.  Lovely!!!!  BUT with two of her kids at uni and one just about to enter 6th form would you not think that they might all be working for the summer???  Apparently not.


That annoys me.....................  the fact that my nephews & niece don't seem to think that they need to work in the holidays,  Mummy & Daddy will pay for everything even their mobile phones, their uni fees, their car insurance etc and will also pay for them to go on holiday.


BUT what annoys me even more is.................. the fact that my sister has never, ever worked in the last 20 years (that doesn't annoy me - she has a rich husband and that is her choice).  It's the fact that she seems to think she knows everything about 'getting a job'.  She's pressurising her kids to produce wonderful CVs  She's paid more than £100 for my 16 yr old niece to do a 'lifeguarding' course even though my niece probably won't get a lifeguarding job in the immediate future and it has to be renewed, at a cost, every couple of years.


Most of the jobs for students are 'minimum wage jobs', where their charm, wit & dazzling personality will go a lot further than handing in a CV??.....................


I know.  I am in a position where I employ a lot of 16 year old kids.  And to be honest I don't want to see a CV.  I want to see them.  I want to talk to them.  I want to know if they're reliable, trustworthy, conscientious, practical, able to follow instructions & do what they're told.  I want them to have a pleasant disposition to talk to people and I want them to be adaptable to any task.


The kids that we employ in the business where I work are paid more than the National Minimum Wage.


Not quite sure how this 'Christmas with the Family' blog has morphed into a 'employing students' rant??


But hey ho - sometimes things just turn out like that. LOL LOL LOL!!!

Wine

I think today I might have a bit of a rant about wine?  I LOVE wine.  I drink copious quantities of the stuff.  But actually........................ in the run up to Christmas..................... I'm going to rant about it???


Every single time that the adverts come on the TV they're telling us which supermarket we can go to get 25% off if we buy 6 bottles.  I never, ever, buy less than 6 bottles at a time!  Every single time that I walk into a local corner shop I'm confronted with a huge sign saying, '3 bottles of wine for £12'.
Every single time that I go out for a meal at this time of year, I'm confronted with such advertising campaigns as; 'buy two steaks & get a free bottle of wine'.


I succumb to all of the above.  I LIKE wine!!!!


However; at this time of year........................  everybody likes wine??!!  It's Christmas.  People buy wine to drink in their homes.  People go out celebrating and drink wine.  People go to parties where wine is consumed.


What I don't really understand is; why the 'wine manufacturers/supermarkets' feel the need to introduce 'special offers' at this time of the year?  It just seems a bit mad to me.


It's Christmas.......................  Christmas is the time of year when most wine is consumed so if you are selling it..................... why on earth would you put it on 'special offer' when everyone is going to buy it anyway?  People want wine at Christmas.  They will buy it whatever the price because it is an item that they want.


If I were a wine supplier/supermarket, I'd be hiking up the prices before Xmas and then putting it all on special offer in January.


Lets face it.........................  Loads of people do 'dry January'???  Traditionally nothing happens in January, nobody has any money, the weather is awful so no one wants to go out, even if they do have money.  And everyone is very grateful for any little positive boost that they can get!


Perhaps I'm just being cynical.  Or perhaps I'm just a 'tight old git?'


....................BUT; I buy a lot of wine over the Christmas period I buy a lot of wine throughout the year Lol! but putting it on 'special offer' for Christmas has absolutely no influence over what I buy, where I buy it from, or how much I buy???


I'll be totally honest.........................  I buy all of my Xmas wine from Tesco & Asda because they are my nearest supermarkets.  I know that Sainsbury's has been running a '25% off 6 bottles of wine' campaign, but 'Sainsbury's' wine is a lot more than Tesco & Asda in the first place and what I would save by buying 6 bottles of wine, if I went trekking to Sainsbury's (which is a lot further away from Tesco & Asda) I'd probably lose on petrol costs???  And I don't want to do the rest of my shop in Sainsbury's because most things are a lot more expensive than Tesco & Adsa.


Having said that.........................  I'm not quite sure if I'm a snob or not?........................  If Waitrose were doing  25% off 6 bottles of wine, I might actually consider that.....................  BUT living in the South West, it's probably a 2hr drive to our nearest Waitrose and I'm pretty sure they don't do 'online delivery' to my area???


Living in the South West is wonderful.  Location. Location. Location.  And all that??!!


National advertising campaigns for wine????


.......................As far as I'm concerned.......................... It just doesn't work down here!!!


...............Which is why I'll be off to Tesco & Asda (& possibly even Lidl) tomorrow to buy my Xmas supply of wine. Lol!!!

Buying tickets to see a STAR

Tonight I am trying to buy tickets to see Lionel Richie at the Eden Project.


I have been trying to do this for the last four hours.


I first started to do this at 5.45pm and I was 228th in the queue.  After almost 3 hours I reached number 1 in the queue and then actually got through to the booking office.


Keyed in the number of tickets I wanted (only 2) and then a message popped up saying; 'Unable to allocate the number of spaces'.


No explanation as to why this should be the case.  I tried keying in just 1 ticket, I tried keying in 10 tickets but it still kept popping up with the same stupid message.


This is not good service.  There is no phone number to ring for problems.  We are all just expected to do everything online.


To be honest; I don't even know why I want to go and see Lionel Richie???  Helloooooooo.............


He was a bit star in the 1980s but he must be a very ancient now????


The tickets are £65 plus the booking fee, if you buy them direct from the Eden Project.  The tickets are £125 if you buy them from 'ticket master'.  This is just ridiculous?!!  Why on earth does an aging 1980s popstar think that he can demand such high fees???


.................Probably because nostalgic people like me are sitting for the whole of the evening trying to buy tickets for his show.


Oh dear........................  Perhaps we're all a bit sad.


PS - 4 hours later I still haven't managed to buy any tickets but I'm still trying..........................

Community Involvement

Living in a small town in the Southwest I like to get involved in the community events, especially at Christmas time.


I do such things as helping to decorate the towns Christmas trees, helping out with the towns festive activities & helping out with the New Year Celebrations.


BUT..................  what is really starting to bug me more & more is the number of people who do absolutely nothing to help and then start moaning about everything that they think should be going on.


I will freely admit that I do not do very much to help my town.  In the month of December I am probably only going to dedicate about 10 hours of my time to ensuring that our Christmas/New Year festivities are fabulous.  Having said that................  If everyone else in town dedicated 10 hours per month, then we'd probably all just have to dedicate one hour every couple of months.


Just what has happened to community spirit????


The town that I live in is looking fabulous.  But it's only looking fabulous because a very small band of volunteers has made it look this way.


And it's really, really, really annoying when one walks around town and listens to gossip because that's what happens in a small town saying that this isn't right and that isn't right and so & so should have been done differently.


I really feel like just slapping some of these people.


What on earth gives these people, (who haven't contributed anything whatsoever), the right to criticise what is being done when all they're doing is sitting on their arses???


This is a small town.  It's a very lovely small town.  The Christmas decorations are looking very, very fabulous in our small town.  Our New Year celebrations are going to be fantastic.


Wise up....................  all you moaners and move into the 21st century.


Stuff doesn't happen by itself. 


Years ago, the whole community would have pulled together to ensure that everyone had a good time at Christmas & New Year.  Now it seems that there are only a few individuals who are prepared to give up their time and make this happen.


Come on peeps....................


...................Christmas is a time for giving, sharing, loving................

Phoning the tax office

Have you ever tried phoning the tax office?  No?  Then don't bother!!!


Trying to phone the tax office must be one of the most frustrating things that you can ever do in your whole life.


Over the last month I have tried to phone the tax office more than 13 times.  I've been phoning the tax office from a BT landline.  Naively, I thought that phoning from a landline, would be cheaper than phoning from a mobile.


Apparently - not so!  I have been told that 0300 numbers are included in inclusive minutes for mobiles, though I must admit I've not tested this information yet.


Every time I have phoned the tax office I have been charged 59p (+ VAT I think? - I'll have to check on that one).  My phone bill for phoning the tax office and listening to all their automated blurb is now more than £10?  I wonder if I can claim all that back from the tax office????


Don't you just love the tax office? NOT!  You listen to loads & loads of automated blurb and press loads & loads of buttons......................  But the end result is always the same......................


.................'Sorry we have no one available to help you at the moment.  Please call back later.'


Well, I'm getting fed up of 'calling back later'.  I'm getting fed up that there's never, ever, a real life person for me to talk to.  I'm getting fed up of listening to automated messages that go on and on and on and on.  And then just tell me to call back later and the line goes dead.


What kind of a service is this???


It is not a service. 


I'm trying to speak to someone in the TAX OFFICE for gods sake.  I don't want to listen to automated blurb.  The question I want to ask does not 'fit into' any of their stupid, stupid FAQ ('frequently asked questions').  If it did, do they not think I would already have found my answer?


How on earth does anyone ever manage to solve any of their tax problems when this is the type of service that they are offering?


I have spent hours and hours trying to sort out my tax problems, I've spent hours and hours phoning the tax office.


Is the tax office going to refund my phone bill for the number of times that I've phoned them and not got any response (apart from their stupid, stupid, automated ansaphones?)  Is the tax office going to refund me for the amount of my time I have wasted phoning them, being kept on hold, listening to their stupid, stupid, automated messages only to be told, 'please call back later'.  And is the tax office ever, ever, ever, going to get it's act together and be able to offer a proper personalised service???


I think not!


Grrrrrrrrr................................


This is soooooooo annoying!!!

Blackpool - 2nd RANT

OK, so my first RANT about Blackpool concentrated mainly on the fact that everyone was FAT, everyone SMOKED and everyone had HYPER KIDS.


I still stand by that RANT!!!


BLACKPOOL is the 'tackiest' place in the whole world (in my opinion).


It's also one of the most fascinating places that I've ever been too.


I LOVE BLACKPOOL!!!


Where else can you buy a large glass of wine for £3.30 and sit looking out to sea?  Where else can you buy a large fish & chips for £2.99.


Where else could 'Jeremy Kyle' broadcast his show from.....................  for the rest of his life???


Blackpool is so tacky; its actually stylish?!!!


A few months ago I watched '4 In a Bed' and it came from Blackpool and there were really snobbish people on it who said they would never, ever go to Blackpool.  The Blackpool hosts said that there was something for everyone.  And I thought.........  Oh yeah, get real, some of us like to have a bit of class in our lives???


But actually; there is something for everyone in Blackpool....................


I've just walked 24 miles of the 'Lancashire Coastal Path'.


I've not been up the Blackpool Tower cos I hate heights.  And I've not been to the Pleasure Beach because I hate heights.  And I've not been in any of the amusement arcades because I hate stuff like that.


............But I've walked for more than 24 miles.  And I've had a very cheap glass of wine in a beer garden in the sunshine and I've stayed in the most fabulous hotel.


And I know I'm a 'ranting old middle aged spinster'..................


.............BUT, actually BLACKPOOLS OK!!!


.............So if you're a walker or a biker or a hiker or a cyclist or a twitcher or a surfer or a swimmer or a horse rider or a runner or anything else.................  BLACKPOOL has something for all of us.


PS - It's still full of FAT smokers.  And a friend of mine has just done a bit of research and found out that something like 27% of Blackpool pregnant woman still smoke.  As I say................  'JK get yourself down here@.  LOL LOL LOL!!!!

Blackpool - 1st RANT

Not really sure if this is so much of a RANT, but an observation?

I’m in Blackpool for a couple of days......................  And seriously, everyone is FAT, everyone smokes, nobody has any teeth, and ‘Jeremy Kyle’ really should just broadcast his show from here.

OK so I’m sure that’s a bit of a ‘generalisation’...............  But seriously.............

................All the fat kids are wandering around with their fat parents and fat siblings and fat uncles & aunties.  All of whom have a cigarette in their hands.  And all I can hear anyone saying is................  ‘Can I have some chips, can I have a burger, can I have some ice cream, can I have some candy floss.’  Etc, etc, etc,  It’s 3.30pm in the afternoon for goodness sake.

And all I’m hearing is; ‘Can I, can I, can I???’

What has happened to our society?

Why do we no longer eat meals for breakfast, lunch & dinner.  (Or even breakfast, dinner & tea which was what happened when I was a child?!)

Everyone just seems to graze on ‘snack foods’ these days which I’m sure is why all these ‘fat kids in Blackpool’ are FAT??!!

................And they’re all waiting at the tram stops to get on a tram to take them less than half a mile down the road to MacDonalds  OK I don't actually know where they're going but I have seen a lot of them get off at the MacDonalds stop?!!

....................And seriously ..............................How do all these fish & chip shops survive?  How on earth do they make any money when they’re advertising ‘fish & chips for £2.99’??? And a lot of them are saying that kids can eat for free???

First impressions – Blackpool seems like the ‘tackiest place in the world’?!

But ho, hum, let’s not be too hasty.

Sometimes, ‘first impressions’ aren’t correct??!!

Breast cancer awareness month???

Get a life people!!!


....................So I've had breast cancer.  And I've been through the whole breast cancer scenario.  And I've had an operation.  And I've had radiotherapy.  And  4 years later I'm still on breast cancer drugs.  And I totally support 'Breast Cancer Awareness Month'.


But honestly??...............................  All this 'over the top stuff' is doing my head in.


I've survived.  And for that I'm very grateful.  A lot of other people have survived.  A lot haven't.  And that is desperately sad..................


..................I'm just not sure that all this focus on 'Breast Cancer' is the right route to go down.


Breast cancer seems to get sooooo much publicity.  There's 'moonlight walks', there's 'wear it pink' campaigns', there's 'fun runs', there's 'coffee mornings'.


Don't get me wrong - Obviously having breast cancer myself, I would love to find a cure for it, and I'm more than happy for everyone to be fund raising to find a cure.


However, there are hundreds of different forms of cancer and hundreds of illnesses that need funding.  And hundreds of people that need help.


..............And I'm just not sure how 'Breast Cancer' has made it into the spotlight?


Is it because it's a 'woman thing' and woman feel empowered to do something for themselves.  But lets not forget men can get breast cancer too.


Personally, I would like the cure for cancer to be universal.


If I had one wish in the whole wide world.................  I would wish for everyone who had cancer, (whatever kind of cancer), to be able to take one tablet and make it go away.


Wouldn't that be fabulous???

Get off the internet

This weekend I have had friends to stay.  I love having friends to stay.  Having friends to stay means we can go out and about and do all the stuff that I wouldn't normally do by myself.




However.........................




................Increasingly having friends to stay....................  doesn't actually mean that we will be going out and about and doing anything???




So............... my friends arrived at 8pm on Friday night..................  And by 8.10pm they'd accessed my wifi code and were connected to the internet and were busy checking stuff on ebay/facebook etc.




I actually think I might declare my home a non wifi area if friends want to come to stay again.


Just what has happened to real live friendships???


Why does everyone need to be connected to the internet 24/7???


And the other thing that really annoys me.....................  Visitors just seem to think that they can breeze into your house and automatically get the wifi code and 'connect' and do whatever they want on the internet.


.............. I don't have 'unlimited' wifi usage.  Why would I?  I don't spend hours downloading stuff and watching stuff on the internet??


..............So I end up paying extra for everything that my visitors are doing???  And yes........  it does annoy me.  I really don't think I should be paying for their wifi usage.  They come to see me.  Or at least that's what they tell me??  So why do they need to connect to the internet the minute they arrive???


I don't watch stuff on Utube, I don't download stuff, I don't do a lot of stuff that my house guests do.  I check my emails, I faff about on Facebook & Blogger and I do a few other bits& pieces.  That's it.


Every time I have friends to stay I end up paying more for my internet connection because my so called friends/family use up all of my data limit watching stuff on the internet.  And then I'm the one who ends up paying for everything that they're doing.  And why do they need to be doing any of it if they're on holiday??!!


It really does annoy me.


I'm seriously thinking of declaring my house a 'wifi free' zone when people come to visit.


..................But then I probably wouldn't get any visitors??????  Lol!!!


Having said that...........................  Do I really want visitors that just spend their whole lives on their ipads????

Pass the blame

So here we are at the beginning of September with all the new students looking forward to going to 'uni'.


I am soooooooooo going to have a 'uni' RANT soon.


Anyway to get back to this rant...................  It has only just come to my attention that if kids these days don't get the marks they think they should have...............  exam papers can be re-marked???


As a 'ranting middle aged spinster' who did exams in the 1970's there was never such a thing as 're-marking'?? 


In my day, you sat in an exam hall in complete silence (apart from the click, click, click of the exam invigilator's knitting needles) and when you got your results you just accepted them.


A couple of years ago, my very clever nephew got As & A*s in all of his exams.  To me that was a great achievement.  But because he hadn't got an A* in one of them he said it was his teachers fault???   Why???


And also.................... to recall a conversation that I had with my 13 year old niece about subjects I hated at school, couldn't do and failed the exams in......................


................Her comment was.......................  'Oh you mustn't have had a very good teacher.'


........Nooooooooooooooooo...................... I just wasn't the brightest cookie in the box. Duh!!!


Why does everyone seem to want to put the blame onto someone else these days? 


Apparently the A level markers these days are given 3 mins to do it.  Which means that any kid who doesn't get the grade they think they should, can have it re-marked.  The school can request to have it remarked.  The parents can request to have it remarked.  The kids can request to have it remarked.


Obviously this happens a lot because 'pushy parents' and schools that want to 'up the league tables' obviously want better results.


BUT.................  I think it would be really interesting to see if kids that had been predicted lower grades and then got higher grades.......................


...................Said, 'Please re-mark this'?????


Can't see that ever happening???

Online banking

Haven't ranted for ages but I'm seriously annoyed that the two credit cards that I own seem to have converted to paperless billing.  I don't have a problem with that.  I'm a very techie ranting middle aged spinster!!


What I do have a problem with is................. that I haven't a clue when they told me they were going to do this?????


And now I've just had some random email telling me that my statement is available to view online and when I clicked into my account I've got an overdue amount of £27.89 to pay???


I have NEVER in my whole entire life had to pay late charges/interest for my credit cards.  I pay them off in full every single month and have done for more than 30 years.  This is so so annoying.  Perhaps they did send me notification of this?  But I'm pretty sure if they had, I would have made a note of it somewhere???  Maybe they just sent me an email..................  In which case I probably would have just deleted it thinking it was some kind of spam because they always contact me via snail mail.


Actually, I quite like getting my statements online.  I'll just make a note in my diary that I have to check my on line accounts to see if I have any thing to pay.


BUT.................. what really, really, really, annoyed me about paying off my credit card (with it's late charges/interest) is.......................... the DEFAULT button.


Obviously I wanted to pay off the full amount but the default button had already ticked the 'interest only' box.  So I had to un-tick it and tick the full amount box.  How many people will just carry on thinking that they're paying off the full amount (because the tick boxes weren't even parallel to the relevant charges).


This to my mind is mis-representation???


This is soooooo, soooooo annoying.


And the thing is..........................  Who do I complain to??????


If I phone any of these credit companies all you get is some automated message saying, 'Your call is important to us.  You are moving forward in the queue.'.


Just don't get me started???!!!


I think I might have to have another phone rant.  Grrrrrrrr............

Why can't holiday makers park?

So I haven't ranted for ages.  And believe me I've had loads of things to RANT about but I haven't.  I've tried to be restrained?!!




One week into the school holidays and my ressie car park is being over run with holiday maker cars................  I'm sorry but I have to rant.




What is it about holiday makers that means they can't park their cars properly?  All the holiday let agencies in this town give the holiday makers the dimensions of their car parking spaces so that they know whether their car will fit. It's not my fault if the visitors don't know what size their car is???



This is a small fishing town.  It was built hundreds of years ago when cars hadn't even been invented.  Most properties in this town don't even have a parking space so those of us who do are extremely lucky.




And yet still people come on holiday in their huge 4 x 4's expecting to be able to fit them into a space that only a smart car will fit into.  So today, in my car park there are 3 huge cars that are way to big for the spaces (& we have big spaces compared to the rest of the town?).


Should I photograph these cars and 'name & shame' the holiday makers who think it's acceptable to leave their cars in the middle of a communal car park.  This is sooooo, soooo disruptive to the rest of us?  If we want to go out or come in, we have to go knocking on doors to ask the holiday makers to move their cars so that we can actually drive into our own spaces that we occupy 52 weeks of the year.


Why on earth do people book a holiday, get told the dimensions of their parking space, and then just think they can park wherever they want, even if that means blocking other people in?


.............And don't even think that you can speak to these holiday makers in a civilised fashion.


If you so much as say to them, that the holiday let they are saying in, has confirmed the parking space dimensions, they just give you a mouthful of abuse and say they haven't measured their car.


Why not???


Every single person who comes on holiday and stays in a holiday let property in this town has to sign a form to say they've read the terms & conditions of the booking. 


They sign it, agree to everything and then just do their own thing when they arrive.  And there's nothing us ressies can do.


Makes me mad!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......................

Where are we staying?

Living in the Southwest and working in the tourism industry; I really don't feel that I can divulge exactly where I live.  I really wish I could because........... honestly, I'd really like to 'name & shame' some of the very stupid requests from holidaymakers that I have to deal with at work on a daily basis.


Holiday makers drive us all mad??!!


Take today for example;


Man phones and says, 'I'm coming on holiday I'm omitting the name of the town here to the SW next week and I need a high chair.'


And this is the conversation that followed:


ME - 'Yes, we can do that for you.  Where are you staying?'


MAN - He names the town.


ME - 'OK, Can you give me the name & address of the property?'


MAN - 'No'.


ME - 'Have you booked it through an agency or is it a private let?'


MAN - 'I don't know. My wife booked it'.


ME - 'Can I speak to your wife?'


MAN - 'No - she's at work but she told me I had to book a high chair.'


ME - 'I'll provisionally book a high chair for you. What dates are you coming on holiday?  And can I please have your name & a contact number.  And when you've spoken to your wife can you please call back to confirm exactly what you want?'


MAN - 'It's in (he names the town) but I'm not sure of the dates, my wife booked it. And I don't know what my phone number is.'


At this point I really feel like slapping him.  But obviously I can't because he's just some incompetent person on the phone who hasn't actually got a clue where he's going on holiday, when he's going on holiday and I doubt if he even knows who exactly he's going on holiday with??? And also he wants to book a high chair so he's a client and I have to be nice to him.


ME -  (trying to be really friendly & super efficient here)- 'OK, if you give me your name & number, I'll give you a call back in the morning, once you've spoken to your wife.  Then we can get the 'high chair' booked in for you and we'll be able to deliver it to your holiday property free of charge'.


MAN - 'I don't know what my number is.'


ME - I'm losing patience here?!!  Obviously I did not say that!!!!


ME - OK. Not a problem.  I'll be in the office 9-5pm tomorrow, so just give me a call.


Idiots???????????????????????????????????


Obviously 'Mr I don't know where I'm staying, I don't know what dates I'm staying, I haven't got a clue who I'm going on holiday with???'..................................


...............................Is  probably not going to get his high chair???  LOL!!!!!


What amazes me though...............................


............................Is why don't they just leave all the organising to their wives????


And then everything would be sorted????? LOL!!!!!!

Instruction Manuals

Today I am going to RANT about 'instruction manuals.'


I am seriously not happy.


I have bought a 'fitbit' pedometer.  I want to measure the distance I walk every day. I want to be 'dead techie' and plot all my walking on my computer or on my  iphone.


Unfortunately I am NOT 'dead techie'??  I naively thought that my 'fitbit' would come with instructions.  My fitbit does not come with instructions.  It comes with a bit of paper that says (in 6 different languages), 'to set up, go to: www.fitbit.com/setup'


OK, so I've tried that.  I got so far and then it asked me to sign in with a Facebook account or a Google account?? Tried signing in with a google account and it kept telling me that my 'user name' or password was incorrect.  Which it's not.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr....................


I don't really want to try signing in with my Facebook account because I have a fear of it infiltrating all my friends and doing stuff I don't want it to do.


Why on earth can products not just include a step by step 'paper' manual of what to do???


Why is life so complicated????


And at one point in the 'online set up procedure' it said, 'make sure the tracker is next to the computer'.  What on earth is the 'tracker'??????


These companies that sell 'techie devices' (that a lot of old people use) need to realise that us oldies OK middle aged trendy people haven't a clue about 'modern jargon'.  How on earth can I make sure the 'tracker' is next to the computer if I don't even know what a 'tracker is???  I just shoved everything that had come in the box next to the computer and it still didn't work.


And that brings me to the next RANT......................  The pedometer & all it's bits were in a box about 2inches square.  The packaging was about 10ins x 5ins.  Just how un environmentally friendly was that???


This whole thing is just doing my head in!!!


So I've done what any old middle aged trendy  person would do and have invited a couple of youngsters over tomorrow night to sort it out for me.  Yay!!!

Needy friends

OK I've called this post 'Needy Friends'.


'Needy Friends' are friends that actually think they're you're friends but actually; you're only a 'friend' to 'off load' on.  OK I've just read through this RANT - I love my 'needy friends'.


I've just spent 40 mins on the phone to a 'needy friend'.


'Needy friend' phoned and before I knew it, I'm hearing all about the latest trauma in her life.  Admittedly when I answered the phone she said, 'How are you, what have you been up to?'  I tried to tell her what I'd been up to.........................


..........................Obviously she wasn't interested because 'needy friend' is going through a trauma.  'Needy friend' is always going through a trauma??!!  I've known 'needy friend' for more than 35 years and 'needy friend' has spent her whole life going through trauma's.


At our age middle aged we've all gone through a load of traumas in our life. But for most of us, we just 'dust ourselves down and get on with it.'  Not so my 'needy friend'.  For the last 35+ years my 'needy friend' has been phoning me on a regular basis to discuss the latest trauma in her life.  And believe me - there's always a trauma in her life.


Sometimes I feel a bit guilty that I just sit on the phone agree-ing/disagree-ing/commenting on what she's telling me.  At other times I just think that she's had copious quantities of wine or whisky and won't even remember the conversation in the morning??


BUT.....................  At the end of the day, she's been my friend for more than 35 years.


Yes, she's ALWAYS got problems.  She always will have.  BUT, she's my friend & I love her.


.................And after more than 35 years I'm pretty sure that we'll always be mates!!!!!!

Bin Bags

OK, so you may not feel that 'bin bags' are worthy of a 'RANT'???


They most certainly are.


A few weeks ago I bought some 'extra strong' bin bags from a well known supermarket.  'Extra strong'?? - 10 for £1.  That's 10p per bin bag.  My bin bags are anything but 'extra strong'.  In fact if the truth be told......................  My 'extra strong' bin bags are actually 'extra weak'.


To say I am furious about this mis-representation of my bin bags is an understatement.


So far I have used four of these so called extra strong bin bags.  And so far every time I have taken the bin bag out of the bin it has split.  That means, I then have to put the 'extra strong bin bag' into another 'extra strong bin bag'.  That means that every time I use a bin bag I actually have to use 2 bin bags.  So now my bin bags are costing me 20p per bin bag.


Unfortunately, I can't remember which supermarket I bought these 'extra strong bin bags' from???


It is so, so annoying though.  I think I might do a bit of 'googling' to see what criteria is used for describing a bin bag as 'extra strong'??


I can't believe that I am 'ranting' about bin bags??  Bin bags are just bin bags - black sacks that one fills up with rubbish.  ................BUT if you fill up your 'extra strong' black bin bag with rubbish and then it splits and all the rubbish falls out, the minute you try to move it...................  Then in my opinion................  that is NOT an 'extra strong bag'???


Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......................

Good schools

OK so tonight I am sitting here watching 'How to get into a good school'.


I haven't got kids so I've never been through the 'which school should I send my kid to' scenario.  I have however, been a teacher and I have taught in some so called very bad areas.  In my day of teaching, 'Ofsed' was only just beginning and 'league tables' hadn't been invented.  If league tables had been around I can guarantee that one of the schools that I taught in for more than 10 years, would probably have been at the bottom of the league??  I can also guarantee that, that particular school had the most dedicated, conscientious, hardworking bunch of teachers that I have ever encountered.


Ofsed & league tables are all very well and good.  But what the majority of the great British public don't seem to understand is...................  There's more to life than 'academic achievements'???


OK, so I accept that as an 'educated person' (who has worked in a lot of so called 'menial' jobs); I have a choice because I have qualifications.  At the moment I clean holiday let properties one day a week because living in the SW, cleaning pays a lot more than my 'proper job' which is running the office of a very successful company.


BUT what annoys me and turns me into a 'middle aged ranting spinster' is........................  All this 'Ofsed & league tables' stuff never seems to take into account what the teachers are actually starting with in the first place.


For most of my teaching career I taught infants. (Though I have taught all other ages as well.)  And what really annoys me about all these boxes that seem to have to be ticked these days..................  Where is the room for empathy, caring, compassion?????


The kids that I taught in the 1980's were the sons/daughters of drug dealers/alcoholics/etc etc etc.  OK 'Jeremy Kyle' hadn't even been heard of then, but if he had - the show could have been broadcast from the school that I taught in.


I remember one mother coming to pick her son up (an hour late - in those days the teacher just stayed until all kids had been collected), she'd collected her benefits that day and gone out drinking.  Walked into the school, pulled down her pants and wee-ed in the mop bucket that a cleaner had left by the entrance.  


Obviously parents want to send their kids to the 'best' school.


My gripe is - What qualifies as a 'best school'?  And it seems that 'Ofsed' & most parents only recognise academic qualifications???


OK, so most people seem to think that 'academic qualifications' are the only thing that is important.  And if that's what you're looking for in a school then that's fine.


However.........................  I would just like to say........................  that a child who loves to come to school, likes school more than home, interacts more with his/her teacher than his own parents & feels that school is a safe environment................................. Then who cares about league tables????


..........................Some parents just seem to be constantly pushing their kids to achieve the 'materialistic dream' instead of teaching them how to be happy!!!!

Contactable 24hrs?!

OK so I wasn't quite sure what title to give this post so I've given it the title, 'Contactable 24hrs?!'


I've just received (at 8.30pm) a 'forwarded text from my boss' (who is not going to be in work tomorrow) a text that he had received from a client about items that the client wants delivering?!!


My job is; running the office for a very successful business in the SW.  My official title is 'Office Administrator/PA' and yet I am not even paid the 'living wage' of £7.85ph?


So I did what any good 'office administrator/PA' would do - I texted him back immediately and said, it would be sorted in the morning.


And yet....................  This has got me thinking?


1)   Why do people think that businesses operate 24/7


2)   Why does my boss respond via his personal mobile the minute he gets a call/email/text?  This only means that everyone responds to his calls via this number and then he gets angry that they're not phoning the landline???  And then he gets 'angry at me' because I haven't a clue what's going on???


3)   Why can we not have a 'work' mobile that we switch off at 5pm?


4)   How come my boss is texting me at 8.30pm at night? - I'm supposed to be a 'part-time' worker.  Surely if he wasn't coming in tomorrow he could just have emailed stuff through to the work computer ready for me to find at 9am???  I love my job but I hate being contactable 24/7 - I HAVE a life???


5)   ZERO hours contract - This DOES NOT mean that a boss can control your life!!!


I actually don't know the answers to any of the 'above'???


..............DO YOU???

Dentists - Rant 3

OK, so since my last RANT about my dentist, more than a year ago, I haven't bothered ranting any more.  I still feel the same.  I think this is the 5th time I've been to the dentist since he took over the practise?!!




He's still asking me the same stupid questions that he did the first time he saw me:




Do I floss?
Do I use an electric toothbrush?
How often do I clean my teeth?




Honestly; I really feel like just bashing him in the teeth.  He keyed all this information into his computer the first time he saw me.  I really do not understand why he has to ask me these same questions every time I see him.  ..............Just get on with the job and stop being so patronising!!!  Or go back to dental college and learn a few people skills?!




The job today was to give me a filling.  I haven't had a filling since I was about 14 years old.  The last time I went for a check up & clean he told me one of my fillings had a crack in it so it would need to be replaced.  Obviously one tends to 'trust' the professionals. 




The problem I have is.......................




.................For the whole of my life (I'm 56 years old) I have visited the dentist every six months.  And until 'Mr Patronising Dentist' I still don't know his name because he's never bothered to introduce himself came on the scene, I've been told the same thing - 'You have really bad tartar but your gums are in good condition.'




Today, 'Mr Patronising Dentist' said that he wanted to take an X-ray of my teeth and then he wanted me to make an appointment to see a dental hygienist so she could look at my gums.  Not only look at my gums; apparently she'd have to 'numb them' to do this.  Just googled this.  It sounds like a local anaesthetic to me and I could be in pain for 48 hours???  Then I'd be given a deep clean and an assessment.




As a 'totally stressed out dental patient' I just went along with all this and agreed.  He's the professional after all.   'Mr Patronising Dentist' was telling me that I may develop serious gum disease.  Maybe I will, maybe I won't.  BUT he didn't give me the option to make an informed choice.


So I've done a lot of 'Googling'.  And I now understand a lot more about the procedure.  And no way am I going to put myself through that.




To be honest the whole 'filling experience' was no where near as bad as the 'cleaning experience' (though I did think he was going to clean my teeth today as well??!!).  Having said that; I can now 'feel' that I have a filling in my tooth whereas before I didn't even know there was a filling there.  Apparently he's replaced a silver filling with a white filling, as if that was the best thing in the world??  As far as I'm concerned - I've had a silver filling for more than 40 years so I couldn't care less what colour the filling was.  The lovely jubbly white filling cost me £51.30 on the NHS which apparently is standard price.  Can't find any prices for silver fillings???




However if I go through with this 'numbing my gums & deep cleaning thing'; I saw on 'my card' it's going to cost me £135.  Not sure where this price has come from because looking on the NHS dentist website they have 3 price bands - £18, £51.30 & £225




Anyway I am going to exercise my 'patient rights'???  No way is anyone going to anesthetise me to dig underneath my gums!!!




I'm going to be really brave and stand up to the professionals..................




...................I will continue to go for a dental check up and clean every six months (which is more than the NHS recommended guidelines of every 1-2 years).




Tomorrow I am going to contact my dental surgery and tell them I will come for a check up & clean every 6 months.  BUT no way is anyone going to anesthetise me and go digging underneath my gums???




PS - The receptionist & dental hygienist/assistant at my practise are very, very lovely people.  They have the best people skills ever.




http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1781.aspx?CategoryID=74

Tesco - 5th RANT

OK, so last week I ranted about ASDA but actually I've only ranted about ASDA once.


This is my 5th rant about TESCO!!!


About a week ago I filled my car up with TESCO petrol.  I like TESCO petrol stations because they are usually cheaper than any other petrol stations.  And when I hand over my 'TESCO club card' I get 'points'.  Yay!


A few months ago TESCO were running some sort of scheme whereby you got money off petrol if you spent a certain amount of money in store.  I have to say the TESCO employees, both in the supermarkets & in the garages, were really good at telling the shopper how much money they were going to get off their petrol and what date they had to buy the petrol by.  It was actually one of the things I liked about TESCO. 


Obviously I did not RANT about it because I am a 'RANTING middle aged spinster' and that was one aspect of TESCO that I was really impressed with.


But guess what happened today??????????????????????????


I spent a fortune in TESCO and the very lovely checkout man said, 'Do you know that you've 6p a litre off petrol until tomorrow???'


Duh??!!!  No I didn't know.  I thought that scheme had ended ages ago???????????


Nobody has told me and when I filled up my tank last week at a TESCO petrol station nobody told me?????????????  I gave them my 'club card' (which is normally when they tell me if I have any discounts).


Seriously not happy............................


Is TESCO still running these 'offers' but not actually telling anyone about them, so that they can say that the offers are there but the customers are not taking them up????  OR have TESCO seriously lost the plot???  Well we've all seen the news reports that TESCO are losing money???


So, I echoed these thoughts to the very lovely TESCO checkout man and asked how long the 'petrol scheme' was running for.  He said it had been extended until the end of May.


Get a grip TESCO - does anyone actually know this??????


Today, I received through the post, a load of TESCO vouchers giving me £7 off a £50 shop until 10th May.  OK I will go and buy a load of wine but will wait till they have their 25% off 6 bottles on  And then 5 more vouchers giving me '£5 a week off a £50 shop' up to 14th June.  Is that really going to make me want to shop at TESCO every week for the next couple of months?????  I don't think so.


Much as I RANTED about ASDA before. Their policy of low prices, good quality foods, no gimmicky club cards, etc......................  It works for me.

ASDA

Today I am going to have a RANT about ASDA.


I love ASDA.  ASDA is my most favourite supermarket ever.  And until about 6 months ago my nearest ASDA was about 25 miles away so I didn't often go to ASDA.


I now have an ASDA about 6 miles away.  Whoopee doo.  OK it might not be a big huge massive ASDA.  But it's ASDA and I was really excited when it first opened.


After my latest shop in ASDA I might not bother to return.  I only popped in because they were advertising 6 bottles of wine for £25.


Sooooooooo.....................  Into ASDA I go, and I think I might as well pick up some 'womans weekly mags' at the same time.  Most supermarkets have these by the entrance next to the newspapers.  Were they there?  No they were not.  So I spot an ASDA employee just standing around doing nothing.


Me:  Where are your magazines?
Him: Aisle 10 (which is right at the other end of the store).  Would you like me to show you?  I'll take you there.
Me:  No, it's OK, I'll find it. I've got other stuff to buy first.  (How stupid to have newspaper & some magazines at the entrance to the store and everything else at the other end???)
Him: Is there anything else I can help you with?
Me: No thank you.
Him: You've obviously just started shopping (I only have mushrooms & milk in my trolley)
Me: Thanks for your help.


So I trundle around ASDA and pick up a few bits & bobs (including 6 bottles of wine).


And then I go looking for a 'checkout'.


We are very 'high tec' down here in the Southwest???  There were 4 'proper' checkouts open.  BUT there were 15 self service checkouts available.  Well, I don't do 'self service checkouts'???  Why should I?  It is so so annoying when one goes into a shop and no-one is around to serve.  It's almost as annoying as getting an automated reply when you phone someone.


So I join the  shortest queue to get served by a 'real life person'.  Unfortunately the 'fat person with a squealy brat, in front of me, had bought pretty much everything in the store.  I look at what she has in her trolley and think; 'Jamie Oliver you haven't made much impact here.'??? 


..................And then I look at my own trolley which includes 6 bottles of wine, 3 trashy magazines, 3 big bags of crisps, 1 jar of cheese dip, mushrooms & a litre of milk (see I can do healthy?)


But what annoyed me most about ASDA today was the 'checkout procedure'.  I absolutely hate, hate, hate my local Tesco and I thought when ASDA opened I would love it.  But actually I don't.  At least in Tesco they will open an extra till if there is more than about three people in a queue.


So today...................  the checkout operator was actually the same ASDA employee who'd been standing around when I first entered the store.  He was the one that I'd asked where the magazines were.  ......................And he was still in 'mega friendly chatty mode' while he checked out 'fat persons' shopping.


I'm all for customer service and all that.........................  but efficiency would be nice too.


I actually stood in the queue behind 'fat person' for 15 mins before I got served.  I now know what her squealy brat likes to eat, I now know a lot of 'personal facts' about the ASDA employee.  OK I won't divulge them here.  And then, after ASDA employee and FAT customer had finished discussing everything under the sun....................  Her junk food shopping came to £40+.


..................And guess what?  Her credit/debit card was rejected????????  Grrrrrrrrrrrr.............  more waiting.


Fortunately, 'fat person's', even 'fatter mother', was also in the store so she just yelled for her mum who came and rescued her and paid for her shopping.  ...............And the whole of the time this was going on; I was just thinking....................  Jeremy Kyle..............  why don't you just broadcast your show from ASDA?????


So 15 mins later, 'Mr Friendly I want to win the Asda employee of the month', starts checking out my trolley. 


6 bottles of wine???  Are you over 25 years of age he asks????  I feel like bashing him in the face!  My reply - 'Do I really look that young?  I think you'd better call your supervisor to check out my ID'.


'Mr Friendly I want to win ASDA employee of the month', laughs nervously.


OK so I do still like ASDA.  But I HATE self service tills and I HATE shop employees who are just trying to win the 'employee of the month award'.


ASDA - please get rid of all your self service checkouts and employ a few more real life people??!!

I don't mind what we do

OK, so this weekend I have a friend staying.  The friend that is staying is a very old friend  OK not ancient in years but old in that I have know her since the start of secondary school  who I have known for years.  In fact I think I have known this friend since I was about 12/13 years old and now I am a 'ranting middle aged spinster' in my mid 50s.




Anyway she has come to visit me and it is sooooo hard to 'entertain' her.  In all fairness she did say that she didn't need to be 'entertained'??  And I'm sure she doesn't.  I'm sure she would be quite happy sitting in my house, playing on her ipad and reading her kindle, all day, every day for the four days that she is here.




I am the one who has got the problem??!!




If  'friends' say they want to come and visit then I assume that it's not only me they want to see.  I assume they also want to experience a bit about the local area,




If all my friend wants to do, is sit in my house and play on her ipad and read her kindle, then why has she bothered to leave her very comfortable home, massive compared to mine, travel hundreds of miles, stay in a house which is no where near up to her standards, just to do exactly the same as she would do at home.  Which as far as I can make out is not very much.  Don't get me wrong - if all my friend wants to do is 'play on her ipad' and 'read her kindle' in a different location; then I have absolutely no problem with this whatsoever.




Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a 'party animal' so when my friend said she wanted to visit I wrongly thought we'd be 'living it up' in town every night.  OK, I didn't think we'd be out every single night but I thought I'd be spending a little bit more time than I normally do going out and about.




NOT SO!!!


I know I'm a 'Ranting Middle Aged Spinster' but really.................  I just don't understand why anyone would pay hundreds of pounds to go away for a few days if all they are going to do is sit around watching 'Jeremy Kyle' and playing on an ipad all day?  I totally understand the 'change of scene' thing, the 'it'll be nice to have company' thing, the 'I'm in a different location thing.'


For me though (& I could be totally in the minority here); if I go away somewhere............ where I am staying is just a place to rest my head.  I might just be playing on my ipad  OK I won't be doing that because I haven't got an Ipad, I might want to 'chillax' a bit and do nothing.  But to spend 4 days doing 'nothing'?  NO I wouldn't want to do that.


If I had spent a lot of money on flights/taxis etc I'd want to do a lot more than just sit in a friends house watching trashy TV & doing exactly the same as I'd do at home??


There again................  I'm not married, I don't have kids, I do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it and I don't have to consider anyone else. 


I LOVE MY LIFE!!!


And, ACTUALLY, despite all the garbage I've written above;  I totally understand why someone would want to go on holiday to experience the life that I actually live every day.


I'm a very, very, very, lucky 'ranting middle aged spinster'.

Automated replies

I am sooooooo angry.  I know I'm a 'ranting middle aged spinster' but this is just ridiculous???




Emailed Panasonic at the end of last week because I was having a lot of problems with my camera.  I filled in a 'contact us' form and was really impressed when I got a reply back the following day.




I have a few problems with my camera but one of the main problems was - smudgy marks were appearing on my photos and they seemed to be underneath the lens.




Very lovely 'Panasonic' people told me to take some photos with the sun behind me and email them the photos which I did.  Very lovely 'Panasonic' people then emailed me back saying that the ID number (which they'd quoted in their reply to me) wasn't valid.  Well it's the only number they've given me.  As I've been a bit busy over the weekend I've only just got around to replying to them.  It's Monday???  I got their reply on Friday thinking it was from a real live person.  It obviously wasn't because almost as soon as I sent them a message today I got the same reply saying that my ID no. wasn't valid????




This is sooooooooo annoying.


I've now had to re-write my whole complaint about my camera and re-enter all my personal details again (on the Panasonic contact form) just so that I know that Panasonic have actually received my message.


WHY, WHY, WHY, is it so difficult to actually talk to a real live person today????????

RAC

I LOVE the RAC.  NOT


They've rescued me twice now and have been very efficient.


A couple of weeks ago I got an email from them saying that my membership was up for renewal.


I HATE emails that tell me stuff like this?  Why can't they just send stuff out via 'snail mail'.  To access when my membership was up for renewal I had to click on a link and then enter a 'password'???


Perhaps I have signed up for a non paper option in the past but I haven't a clue what my password is???  ..........................So I just ignored the email.


And then...................... I realised I had a lot of 'Tesco' vouchers that needed using up so I thought I'd check and see if I could use them for me RAC membership - which I can.


To cut a very, very, very long story short..............................  I've now signed up for RAC 'roadside & recovery' which I think means that they will bring me home if I break down???


..................BUT...................... the actual process of actually signing up for this deal took forever.


It wasn't TESCOS fault.  Redeeming their coupons took a few mins and the confirmation email came through almost immediately.


RAC - I wish I could say the same.


It took me almost 45 mins to renew my membership using my Tesco vouchers, and I'm still not sure that my renewal date is going to be on my actual 'renewal date' because I had to enter a date that I wanted my membership to commence????  .................Even though it had said that a renewal of membership would commence on the renewal date???


Tried phoning RAC but all I got was a 'machine' and after pressing numerous buttons there was a message saying they were very busy and I should probably call back later????


Grrrrrr...........................


Obviously I don't think RAC have the best customer service in the world.

RingGo

To say I am furious is an understatement.

 

Today I had planned a long walk.  My long walk was going to take me quite a few hours so I arrived at the beginning of my walk and parked in a council run car park.  As I thought I’d be longer than 4 hours (but nowhere near 8 hours) I decided that I had better pay £5 for 8 hours parking as there didn’t seem to be an option for parking for times in between 4 & 8 hours.

 

The parking machine was right next to my car so I fed in a combination of coins to make £5.  Every single coin I put into the machine just got spit out again.  I tried other coins, I tried other combinations of coins…………..  Nothing worked.

 

Then I spotted a sign on the machine that said, ‘If this machine doesn’t work please use another one’.

 

Alarms bells should have started ringing then????  Obviously this particular car park often has problems with their parking machines???

 

Went to another machine.  Fed in £5.  Nothing happened.  It wouldn’t give me a ticket and it wouldn’t give me my money back.  Grrrrrrrr……………

 

Phoned the number on the machine which went straight through to an automated machine that wouldn’t let me speak to a real life person and only wanted to take money from my credit/debit card for parking.

 

Decided I’d better do this because I didn’t want to be issued with a huge fine because I hadn’t paid for parking.

 

The automated machine asked me for my car registration number.  Then it didn’t recognise it and tried to tell me I had another number plate.  After the third attempt it made me send a text message and phone it again.  Just wondering how much all this is going to have cost me when I get my mobile phone bill.

 

To park my car using RingGo took me about 20 mins and then when I’d actually done it the ‘automated machine’ said it would only take about 30secs the next time I wanted to park.  Well actually I NEVER EVER want to park in that car park again.  I NEVER EVER want to use RingGo again.

 

Why would I?  It take a few seconds to put coins into a machine and get a ticket.

 

Oh and it also seems that ‘RingGo’ charged me 40p for the privilege of paying with my mobile phone.

 

There is going to be a very strong email winging it’s way to the council concerned.

Why do at least two of the machines in the car park not work.

Why is there no telephone number to phone if the machines don’t work.

Why is there no car park attendant in situ to ask for help.

Why does it take so long to pay via a mobile phone.

Why have I been charged 40p for paying for a mobile phone

 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……………………

 

I HATE RINGGO!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I get to 100???..............................

When I get to 100 RANTS I think I might go public???


Obviously as this BLOG is on the internet it is already very public.  Having said that nobody actually reads it.


When I say I might go public, I mean I might link it to my FB & twitter pages.  Obviously at this moment in time I haven't the foggiest idea how to do that???  There again; 10 years ago I don't even think the word 'blog' had been invented??


As a very untechie, like to think of myself as savy, 55 year old ranting middle aged spinster, I am very, very aware that even though no one is reading my blog at the moment when I'm posting stuff online it is available for the whole world to see.


After looking at my FB page my sister once said, 'I hope you don't do anything that gets you into the papers because the only pictures that anyone can find of you, are you holding a glass of wine.


.....................That pretty much sums up my life. LOL!!!!  I like wine.  I go out .  I post lots of photos on my FB page of me drinking wine.   And if the papers want to print those photos that's fine.  I doubt if I could stop them.


In 2015 we are all pretty much living our life in the spotlight.


Even if we're not on FB or twitter or any of the other social networking sites.........................  We'll all have been captured on CCTV, our lives are all on show should anyone want to track us down.


So as far as I'm concerned posting a few 'rantings' on Blogger is no worse than being captured on CCTV???


................BigBrother is watching you. LOL x

Soooooooooooo RANTY!!!

Just reading back on some of my blogs...........................


.........................I'm soooooooo ranty!!!!!!


OK, I gave this blog the title of 'Rantings of a middle aged spinster'...................  BUT  I didn't actually realise how 'ranty' this blog sounded until I read back on some of my blogs??  I only gave it this title because I couldn't think of anything more original.


I love ranting.  Perhaps I should list 'ranting' as one of my hobbies?  There again; who's interested in my hobbies?  At my age I don't actually think I'm going to be producing a fabulous new CV for a fabulous new job?  At my age, I just want to do my job during the designated hours, go home and forget about it.  And to be honest, I've never, ever, had a problem finding work before.  So even if I get sacked tomorrow morning, I know that I have the 'charm, wit & dazzling personality' to have found another job by tomorrow afternoon???


Anyway, I soooooo love my 'toilet roll rant'.  My toilet roll rant is fabulous.  It's my favourite rant!  I daren't leave this rant to see if I can post a link to my toilet roll rant because I might lose everything that I've written above???  I need to learn how to be more techie???


My goal in life is to achieve something?????


At 55 years of age I still haven't got a clue what I want to achieve?


I don't have a bucket list; what's the point?  If I drop down dead tomorrow.................... is there anything I wish I'd done?  No probably not.  And even if there were...............  would I know???  Of course I wouldn't because I'd be dead!


Actually.................................  Just writing this 'ranty' blog has made me realise ........................... that yes ........................ there is something on my 'bucket list'???


I'd like to be remembered for something???? ................................  Even if it is just being a 'Ranty Old Spinister'. xx

Bubble Witch Saga/Candy Crush

Like most of the people in the whole wide world - I'm on Facebook.


I seem to have been sucked into the whole 'selfie, I have to post how fabulous my life is', every two secs.


What I haven't yet been sucked into; is playing games on the internet???


Bubble Witch Saga and Candy Crush???????


I actually don't have a clue what Bubble Witch Saga and Candy Crush are??  ..........But I keep getting loads of requests on FB to play them???


Why on earth would I want to play games on FB?


How do I make these 'game requests' go away?


Every time I get one I click on the cancel button.


I have put posts on my personal FB page telling all my friends that I don't do online games.  And yet still I get notifications on FB inviting me to play these games.


In all fairness to my FB friends; I don't actually think it's them who are personally inviting me to play these stupid games.  I get notifications to play these games in the middle of the night when I know my friends will be asleep. I think when they started playing these games online they didn't read the terms & conditions properly and I think they now have an automatic invite thing to all of their FB friends once they reach a certain level.


It is sooooooo, soooooooo annoying though.


When I get a notification on FB I want it to be about something I'm interested in.  I certainly DO NOT want it to be asking me to play 'Bubble Witch Saga' or 'Candy Crush'??!!


It's still really annoying though.


And the thing that annoys me even more than being invited to play these games....................


..................Does nobody have anything better to do in 'real life' than sit in front of a computer screen and play a few games.


To me............................  that is the saddest thing about Bubble Witch Saga & Candy Crush!!!